


breath, should I take a deep?

by Serie11



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblades (Kingdom Hearts), Magic, Minor Naminé/Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, Training, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27749197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Post KH MOM, Kairi decides that she wants to train under Master Aqua.But getting Aqua to agree to take her on is just the first step; and there's trouble brewing that Kairi will need all her strength to confront. Luckily, she has her friends by her side to help.
Relationships: Aqua & Kairi & Naminé & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: Heart Attack Exchange 2020





	breath, should I take a deep?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZScalantian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZScalantian/gifts).



Kairi jumps down from the cabin of the gummi ship, her shoes echoing sharply against the steps. When she reaches the ground, she turns around and smiles up at Goofy. He’s looking up at the castle curiously. 

“Thanks for dropping me off,” she says. 

“No problem,” Goofy says, looking away from the castle to her. “Donald and I are off to Radiant Garden to let the Restoration Committee about everything that we learned. If ya need anything, be sure to call us on the gummi phone!” 

Kairi nods. “Yep, I will. See you later, Goofy.” 

Goofy waves to her one more time before going back inside. Kairi stands in the courtyard while the ship powers up and then spirals up into the sky, disappearing in a speck of light. 

“Alright, Kairi,” she says to herself. “Let’s do this.” 

She’s sure that Aqua will agree to have her on as an apprentice. They haven’t had much time to talk, but Aqua knew her from when she was a kid. Even though she’s sure that there was something that Aqua wasn’t telling her in that conversation in Master Yen Sid’s tower… 

She takes a breath. The steps of the Land of Departure are wide and clean, and the world itself is quiet. Apparently only Aqua, Ventus, and Terra live here. Something to do with the liminal nature of the place. If Aqua takes her on as an apprentice, will Kairi get to learn about that? 

She makes her way up the front stairs. The doors at the top open without her having to do anything, which is as strange as it is convenient. They’re very large doors. She isn’t sure she would be able to move them by herself. 

As she walks inside, she’s immediately greeted by another set of stairs. The sound of metal hitting metal comes down from the floor above her, and Kairi looks up just as she hears Aqua grunt, followed by a shining chorus of magic. She takes the steps two at a time, and comes out into an open area where Aqua is sparring against – Xion.

Xion dodges a blizzard and then tries to go in low against Aqua, her face flat and determined as she leverages her Keyblade against Aqua when they meet. Kairi waits at the top of the stairs, not wanting to get in their way. Aqua disengages neatly and puts Xion on the defensive, spinning light footedly around the younger girl. Xion calls up a pillar of light, but Aqua summons a barrier all around her to defend. 

_ It’s just like mine, _ Kairi thinks, looking at it. Aqua’s is blue instead of Kairi’s natural pink magic, but otherwise the spells look similar. Did Merlin teach her how to do that, just like he did Kairi? Or is it something that all Keyblade wielders learn? 

Finally, Aqua disarms Xion and holds her at Keyblade point for a second before dismissing her arms. Xion lets her Keyblade fizzle out as well, and the two of them exchange smiles. 

“That was well done,” Aqua says. “You could have used more magic, since I was keeping you at a distance.” 

“I was trying to break through your guard,” Xion explains. “But your barrier is really strong.” 

“Long practise,” Aqua tells her. “I’ll show you how, if you want.” She turns to the stairs and lifts a hand. “Kairi, you’re here.” 

“Kairi!” Xion says happily. “You’re awake!” 

“Yeah,” Kairi says. “Long story. I’m just here by myself. Are Terra and Ven around, too? They should probably hear this.” 

“Terra and Ven are off world at the moment,” Aqua says. Something dark flashes behind her eyes for a second, but it’s gone before Kairi can really get a good look at it. “They probably won’t be back for a few days.” 

“Naminé is here,” Xion says. “She came with me from Twilight Town.”

“Naminé and Xion are the only ones beside me who are currently here,” Aqua says. 

“Right,” Kairi says. “Well, I’ll tell you three everything I know. But first of all, I want to ask you something, Aqua.” 

“Oh?” Aqua asks. “What is it?” 

Kairi takes a breath. “Would you please take me on as a Keyblade apprentice?”

Aqua regards her for several seconds. “Weren’t you training under Master Yen Sid?” 

“I was training with Merlin and Lea,” Kairi says. “Master Yen Sid was just overseeing it.” 

“If Merlin was the one training you, then Master Yen Sid didn’t actually take you on as an apprentice like he did Mickey,” Aqua muses. “An apprenticeship comes with several factors. If he hasn’t claimed you, then I’ll gladly train you.” A smile flickers over her face briefly. “Xion is here to ask the same thing.” 

“Are you?” Kairi asks the other girl. 

Xion nods. “Roxas and I talked about some things and… well, we want to be apart for a little bit. It’s been really good to see him!” she says in a rush. “But with everything that happened to us… well, we were always together. And with all the memories that tied us together, I thought it was a good idea to get some different experience. So I’m here to train with a real Keyblade Master,” she finishes, smiling up at Aqua. 

“You’ll be my third student, then,” Aqua says. “After Ven and Xion.” 

“What about Terra?” Kairi asks curiously. 

Aqua looks away, up at the stained glass at the end of the hall. “He hasn’t asked me,” she finally says. “And I don’t know if he wants to. Regardless, he can still live here until he decides otherwise.” 

“Of course,” Kairi says. “Thank you for agreeing. It… means a lot to me.” 

Aqua nods. “It’s my duty as a Keyblade Master to take on any apprentices who ask and who aren’t already training under a Master. If your Lea or Roxas asked, I would train them too.” 

Kairi nods, trying not to feel nervous at that. Aqua hadn’t said anything about wanting to take her on, but that was okay. Kairi would prove that she was worth it. 

“I’ll go and find Naminé,” Xion says. “Where should we meet?” 

“In my study,” Aqua decides. “You remember the way?” 

“Yes,” Xion agrees. “See you then!” 

She goes down the stairs at the edge of the hall, leaving Kairi alone with Aqua. Aqua is still staring up at the stained glass. Kairi studies it for a few seconds, trying to see what’s so important about it. 

“I’ll show you the way,” Aqua says suddenly. “Come.” 

Kairi falls into step beside her as they leave the hall, guilt and relief twisting in her gut. She’s here, and will finally get to be on Riku and Sora’s level… but she still feels like she should be out there by Riku’s side, helping him. 

_ I am helping him, _ she tells herself. When she’s ready, she’ll go to them. Until then, she should dedicate herself to Aqua’s training, and really make sure that she gets the most out of this time. 

* * *

“So that’s what happened,” Aqua says into the silence that fills the room. 

In Kairi’s opinion, it doesn’t really look like a study. There are shelves scattered around the room, but most of them are empty. Those that are filled are just as likely to have weird objects on them as they are to have books. There’s a verandah to the side that’s overflowing with plants, and looks out onto a back courtyard. 

“Yes. Riku has gone to this other place… of unreality, to try and find Sora.” 

“I haven’t heard anything about this,” Aqua says, frowning. 

“Do you know who told you about this other place?” Naminé asks. She’s sitting beside Xion, turning a simple silver bangle on her wrist. Since the last time that Kairi saw her she’s changed clothes, and is wearing a dress of blue and white with cute blue sandals. 

“She didn’t say her name,” Kairi apologises. “Just that she came from the other place.” 

“I wonder…” Naminé says to herself. “I don’t remember much from the time I was in the Final World,” she admits. “It’s probably a feature of that world. But I do remember someone… who is similar to the girl that you spoke about. I wonder if she’s the same one.” 

“I don’t know,” Kairi says. 

Naminé hums to herself. 

“It’s a lot to take in,” Aqua says. “Can you leave me, please? Xion, Naminé, why don’t you show Kairi to her room. It’s next to yours, Xion.” 

“There isn’t a room next to mine,” Xion says, a confused frown making its way across her face. 

“This place has the ability to conjure new rooms,” Naminé says. “So that was an ability that was inherited.” 

Aqua nods sharply. “I asked the castle to make Kairi a room, and it did.” 

“Then we can show her,” Xion agrees. “Come on, Kairi.” 

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Aqua says. “Breakfast is at first bell.” 

Kairi nods, and follows Naminé and Xion out of Aqua’s second floor study. 

“The bedrooms are on the top floor,” Naminé tells her. She flashes a smile up at her shyly. “It’s good to see you, Kairi.” 

“It’s good to see you too,” Kairi says, smiling back. “We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk, have we? Are you staying? It’ll be good to spend some time together.” 

“As long as Xion is here, I’ll stay here too,” Naminé confirms. “I don’t have a Keyblade, but Aqua has agreed to let me live here as long as I help out as needed, just like another apprentice.” 

“Just because you don’t have a Keyblade, doesn’t mean you can’t learn,” Kairi says. “You can do magic, can’t you? I’m sure there’s heaps of books about that, and Aqua’s great at casting spells.” 

“Maybe,” Naminé says. “We’ll see. Xion and I only got here this morning, you know. Not that long before you.” 

“Oh,” Kairi says. It’s silly to feel good about something like that, but she does. “We’re all starting out new, then.” 

Naminé nods. “I do want to look in the library. There are still some things… about the Final World, and about myself, that I want answers for. If I can find them here, that would be good.” She looks out a window that they pass. “I’m sure that someone who lives on this world will be able to give me answers.” 

“Hopefully you can find something,” Kairi says, trying to decipher her expression. Naminé sounds like she already knows that someone here has the answers, but Aqua would have told her already if she knew, right? 

“Yes,” Naminé agrees. 

“Here, Kairi,” Xion calls from up ahead. “There’s another staircase here, but I think it’s magic somehow, because if we only go up one flight, we still end up on the top floor.” 

This staircase looks the same as the others in the castle, but sure enough, they appear to skip several floors when they come out the top. Kairi looks out the window to the front courtyard, which is now far below them. 

“Aqua said that these are the dorms for the apprentices,” Xion says. “But that she, Ven, and Terra didn’t actually live in them when she was younger. They have rooms on the third floor. So these are all ours.” 

“Cool,” Kairi says. “Which is yours?” 

“Here,” Xion says. She pushes open the door, which is a clean but quite bare room. “I didn’t really bring much with me,” she says, smiling. There are several seashells on the desk, but besides that it looks untouched. 

“My room is next,” Naminé says. “I didn’t bring much either.” 

“So I’m here?” Kairi asks. It’s the only other door in the corridor, which is strange. She imagines the space behind the walls, waiting to expand if only Aqua asks, and opens the door anyway. The room looks exactly like Xion’s did, but without the seashells on the desk. 

“There’s some robes in the wardrobe,” Naminé says. “I brought some extra clothes, but Xion didn’t, which is why she’s wearing them now.” 

“I was going to ask where you got something so like Terra in Twilight Town,” Kairi says wryly. Indeed, Xion is wearing loose pants just like Terra’s, except hers are black instead of dark brown. 

“The castle responds if you ask it something nicely,” Xion explains. “The wardrobe was full of all these, but I wanted them in black, so I asked and when I opened the door next…” She extends a leg to show off her pants. 

“Right,” Kairi says, trying not to feel uneasy about that. It’s obvious that there’s magic layered throughout this entire place, but adjusting the walls and adjusting what’s in their wardrobes feels a bit different to her. 

“Aqua also said that there’s a way to clean our clothes when we need them,” Naminé says. “Next to the bathrooms, there’s a chute that takes everything down to the washroom. You just have to wait until the next morning, and everything’s in your wardrobe again. Pretty interesting, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah,” Kairi says. It does make sense – she can’t imagine the Masters of ages past doing their own laundry, and it’s not like there’s anyone else on this world to do it for them. 

“Kairi,” Xion says, coming forward to clasp her hand. “I know it’s probably been a really crazy day. But you’re handling it super well.” 

“I’m glad one of us thinks so,” Kairi says wryly. “I feel like I’m about to fall apart at the seams, honestly.” 

Naminé comes up to her other side, and Kairi leans against her quietly. “You’ve been sleeping for a while,” Naminé says. She lays her hand on her arm. “It still clings to you. I can’t believe you’ve been taking this all as well as you have been. Here.” She presses her hand against Kairi’s forehead. “It’s not much, but that should stop you from dreaming tonight.” 

“Thank you,” Kairi says gratefully. Naminé’s magic is a cool compress against her skin. “I think I’ve done enough dreaming for now. So you’ve managed to get a handle on your powers, huh?” 

“Something like that,” Naminé says, smiling. “Things are still touch and go sometimes. But if I mess something up, I can always try again. Xion has let me practise on her, which has really helped.” 

“If you’d like me to help, I will,” Kairi tells her. “I feel like I’ve missed out on so much.” 

“Well, now’s the time to catch up on everything,” Xion says, smiling. 

“I can’t believe we came here on the same day,” Kairi says, looking between them. 

Xion shrugs. “Sometimes things are just like that. The more someone tries to insist that something is a coincidence, the more I doubt it.” 

“Time doesn’t work quite right here,” Naminé adds. “You were in Merlin’s time chamber for quite a while, weren’t you? This world turns slower than others. A day here is two days out there. But somehow we’re always there when we’re needed the most.” 

Something grips at her throat, to think that even more time is passing for Sora and Riku. She really can’t mess about if she wants to be ready when they need her. 

“We’ll be fine,” Xion says. “Aqua told us this morning that we need to block out distractions from the other worlds if we want to study here properly. I think that’s a good idea.” 

“Yeah,” Kairi says, trying to make herself sound normal. “Yeah, let’s do that.” As if she could; but maybe pretending will be enough. 

“Okay,” Naminé says, though there’s something in her eyes that lets Kairi know that she can still see to the core of her, even now. “Dinner should be soon – do you want to settle into your room? When the bell rings, meet us downstairs in the main hall, and we’ll show you the way to the kitchen.” 

“That sounds great,” Kairi says, pasting on a smile for them. “I’ll see you then.” 

Xion and Naminé nod, and head back towards the stairs. Kairi enters her room and closes the door behind her, putting her head in her hands for a few seconds. Was this a mistake after all? She spent months in Merlin’s training chamber with Lea, even though in reality it was only a few days. Is this the way of the universe, making her make up for lost time? 

She thinks about Aqua, and how she and Terra and Ven  _ were  _ at the right places at the right times. There’s something weird about this world, something that’s been nipping at her ever since she landed. She’s not usually so aware of her powers as a Princess, but she’s fairly certain that they’re tying into something here. Maybe Aqua will know about it. Maybe Aqua will know more about the Princesses of Heart, and her powers. That could help Sora and Riku – that could be something that they need, sometime in the future. 

She straightens and looks around her room. The desk drawers have several pads of empty note paper in them, and several pens and pencils. The bookshelf has some simple guides on Keyblades which she flicks through before resolving to look at deeper after dinner. Just like Xion said, the wardrobe is full of outfits that resemble what Terra normally wears. 

“I know you can hear me,” Kairi says, feeling slightly ridiculous to be talking to a wardrobe. “Can you get me something in my colours? And maybe a copy of these clothes, if you can. I know they’re enchanted, but you’re an enchanted wardrobe. It could happen.” 

She closes the wardrobe door, then opens it again, and sighs when nothing has changed. Maybe she’ll check later. The single window in the room looks out over the back courtyard, which is clearly set up as a type of sparring and practise ring. 

“Focus now. Freak out later,” Kairi says to herself, and then goes and picks up a book at random to read before the bell rings to summon everyone to dinner. 

* * *

The courtyard at the back of the castle is sunny in the morning. Kairi twists her arm in the sun. It’s warm, but it’s not going to be uncomfortable to work in. Is this summer or winter? She’ll have to ask Aqua how the seasons work here. 

“Xion and I spent most of yesterday sparring,” Aqua says, adjusting one target. “I’d like to do the same with you. That way, I can have a solid idea of where you’re both at, what your strengths are, and what you need help with.” 

Kairi nods. 

“Very well,” Aqua says, summoning her Keyblade. “Show me what you’ve got!” 

Kairi summons her own Keyblade, and doesn’t miss how Aqua’s mouth thins when she sees it. She darts forward, but Aqua blocks her first hit easily, hardly even moving from her starting point. Kairi flips back to get some distance and shoots a fireball at her. Aqua cartwheels out of the way, and her fire splashes harmlessly on the ground. 

Aqua returns fire, casting at Kairi. Kairi dodges out of the way and runs forward to try and get inside Aqua’s guard. Aqua catches her Keyblade on her own, and Kairi tries to overpower her for a few seconds before admitting that it’s impossible. Even if Aqua didn’t seem to age in the Realm of Darkness, her arm muscles certainly grew over time. Though maybe she was this buff before she went in there… 

Aqua pushes her back and Kairi has to go on the defensive. Aqua slips under her guard and Kairi’s Keyblade goes spinning across the courtyard. Kairi summons it back to herself just in time to block Aqua’s next attack. She counters and Aqua grunts as she’s hit. Buoyed by her success, Kairi runs forward again, looking to exploit any holes in Aqua’s defence.

Aqua blocks again, her sphere of magic meaning that it’s impossible to get around to hit from behind. Maybe if she attacked from behind when Aqua was off balance? It’s not going to be easy; Kairi grits her teeth as Aqua casts a barrage of magic. She blocks the first thunder spell, but she’s not like Sora – she can’t keep casting reflect or blocking. She tries to dodge out of the way, but the follow up fire and ice spells hit her hard. 

She jumps back. “Cure!” The rush of energy that overtakes her means that she can run across the courtyard, jumping from vantage point to vantage point as Aqua stands at the back and chases her with her magic. She cuts through a fireball and races towards Aqua, but she just blocks with her Keyblade, pushing Kairi back. She slices through the air and Kairi trips over her own feet as she tries to dodge. She lands on her butt and holds her Keyblade up to try and block a hit that never comes. 

“Hm,” Aqua says, looking down at her. “Not bad. You’re definitely determined.” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kairi says, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. She’s wearing the pants that the wardrobe had given her – light purple, with white and darker purple accents. Her top resembles Aqua’s except in Kairi’s colours, and Kairi has to admit that it’s easy to move in. 

“True,” Aqua says distantly. “Come, let’s go again.” 

They spend the morning like that – Kairi determined to try and find a hole in Aqua’s defence, and Aqua patiently taking her hits and refusing to go down. She does get some attacks in, but they’re rare, and it’s much more often that Aqua casts cure over Kairi after a bout. Just about when the sun is at its height, Aqua calls for a break. 

“I definitely have a good idea of what your skill level is now,” she tells Kairi. “Let’s go and meet Xion and Naminé in the dining hall for lunch.” 

“Alright,” Kairi says. “I’ll go and change first. I know the way.” 

Aqua just looks at her for a few seconds before she nods. “Be quick. The bell is about to ring.” 

Kairi finds the strange staircase that doesn’t work quite right, and strips off her sweaty clothes to dump in the strange chute. In the wardrobe, she finds the enchanted set that Master Yen Sid gave her, smelling like flowers and soft to the touch. There’s only one, and she takes that as her answer. The castle is good, but apparently it can’t do anything. 

The bell rings just as she’s heading back down to the dining hall, which is in the other wing of the castle on the ground level. It looks out over the front courtyard and had been where they’d all had dinner last night. 

“Kairi!” Xion calls out. “Just in time.” 

Everything is done right on time, Kairi thinks to herself, as she helps Xion take dishes from the kitchen to the dining room. The kitchen is enchanted too; if you enter before the bell and intend to make food for everyone in the castle, apparently time will pause just so everything is cooked exactly when the bell rings. Aqua had proven it to them yesterday by going in a few minutes before the bell had rung, and coming out with a full course meal that must have taken hours to prepare. 

Kairi had wanted to ask her about it, but hadn’t. Had she stood in there, for hours? Alone? Did she even want other apprentices besides her old friends? Were Xion, Naminé, and Kairi  _ really  _ welcome here? Was the very fancy meal necessary? Did Aqua feel like she had something to prove to them? 

“We only just made it into the kitchen before the bell,” Xion muttered quietly to her. “I actually thought we were going to miss it. But we did, and when we finished… it rang. Weird!” 

Xion says this very chirpily, as if it makes any sense at all. 

“Was your castle like that?” Kairi finds herself asking. While she hesitates with Aqua, she’s friends with Xion. She can ask her questions easily. “Weird?” 

“Oh yeah,” Xion says. “Didn’t do our laundry for us or pause time, though. It was more, corridors leading where they shouldn’t, weird portals of darkness that you might not come out of if you went into… stuff like that. I think I like this one better.” 

“Right,” Kairi mumbles. Xion’s already weird life just means this is another Tuesday for her. Kairi really wishes this world had a beach. 

Xion and Naminé have made them all a dozen types of mini sandwiches, with a salad and rice pilaf as extras. Naminé admits that she’s been working at a restaurant in Twilight Town, and Xion claims the credit for the idea. Aqua nods as she tries it, and Kairi smiles at them both as she says she likes it. 

When they finish, Aqua motions them all to follow her deeper into the castle. 

“I’ve been thinking,” she says, brushing a fingertip over the wall as she walks along. Kairi looks at her back, and Aqua keeps on looking forward as she walks. “Normally, this wouldn’t be done until several years into your apprenticeship, but these are not normal times. You’re all older than sixteen, aren't you?” 

“Depending on how technical you want to get, Xion and I are between one year and three years old,” Naminé says. “Is that what you mean?” 

“Hm,” Aqua says. “Well, what I mean is, are you going to keep growing any more?” 

“I don’t think so,” Kairi says mournfully. She really would have liked another few inches. “And both of you are the same height as when you got those bodies for the first time.” 

“I don’t think they’re really capable of growing,” Naminé muses. 

“Ominous,” Xion says. 

“We’ll deal with any problems when the time comes,” Naminé says. “But no, to answer your question Aqua, I don’t think we’re going to grow anymore.” 

“Good,” Aqua says. “Because this can only reliably be done once. I do think that Ven got his done a touch too early… he’s definitely going to need another set.” 

“Another set of what?” Xion asks. 

“Your Keyblade armour,” Aqua says distractedly. “The castle can make you some, but it’s only guaranteed to work the first time. Ven’s already growing out of his, honestly. I wonder…” 

Aqua doesn’t say anything else, but Kairi is too caught up in her sudden giddiness. She grins at Xion and Naminé, who both grin back. Xion flashes her a thumbs up while Naminé gives her a wink. 

Aqua unlocks a door seemingly at random, and leads them inside. They must be a few floors below ground level, but the chamber that they walk into is massive. Kairi can only just see the back wall. 

The entire floor space is taken up by spinning machinery, and strange bursts of magic that Kairi can’t see the source of. Aqua leads them around towards the back, before stopping in front of a machine that isn’t doing anything. 

“It should still work,” Aqua says, tapping it with her Keyblade. The metal glows gold under the touch, and Kairi feels the magic gather at the back of her throat. Aqua nods. “Who wants to go first?” 

“Can I get Keyblade armour?” Naminé asks hesitantly. “I… don’t have a Keyblade.” 

Aqua pauses. “It’s not actually tied to a Keyblade,” she says. “But only apprentices ever get it, so I’m not sure what it will do. Maybe it just won’t work. We can still try it, if you’d like.” 

Naminé takes a breath, but then nods. “Yes please,” she says. 

Aqua steps back and motions towards the tube in the middle. “Step inside. It should only take a minute to get your measurements.” 

Xion reaches out to squeeze Naminé’s hand. The two girls look each other in the eyes for a second before Naminé steps forward. Aqua closes the door, and Naminé is hidden from sight. 

“She’ll be fine, won’t she?” Xion asks, a small frown on her face. 

“Hm? Of course. Like I said, it’s just measuring her for the armour before the rest of the machines make it.” 

“Right.” 

Xion doesn’t look completely convinced. Kairi leans over to let their shoulders brush against each other softly. 

“What else is going on down here?” Kairi asks, looking at the rest of the machines and trying to distract Xion. 

“Every machine that runs the castle is in this room,” Aqua says. “There’s more magic spread throughout, but that doesn’t need a dedicated space.” 

“Huh,” Kairi says. “So what happened to it all when this world got turned into Castle Oblivion?” 

Aqua looks at her without moving any other part of her body. “I’m not sure,” she finally admits. “Some of the machinery is certainly… different than I remember it. But it has been a long time since I was down here, so maybe it did always look like this.” 

The tube makes a soft ding, and the door slides open. Naminé steps out, blinking rapidly. 

“That was…” 

“Was what?” Xion asks, stepping over towards her and grabbing her hand again. 

“Hm,” Naminé says. “You should go in. It’s fine.” 

Aqua taps the machine again, and it glows a different colour this time. Xion enters the measurement tube, and Kairi watches as the door closes. 

“It really was quite strange,” Naminé says. “How long have you been using it to make Keyblade armour?” 

Aqua shakes her head. “For as long as this castle has stood. It’s some of the most ancient machinery in here.” 

That doesn’t fill Kairi with much confidence, but if it made Aqua’s armour relatively recently, and it didn’t eat Naminé or whatever, it should be fine. 

“That’s amazing,” she says. “I can’t imagine something lasting for so long.” The islands are ruled by their impermanence. Things come and go, houses are built and destroyed in freak high tides, or by the terrible storms that sometimes cover the entire sky. This castle has sat here, unmoving, for probably hundreds of years. Maybe even longer than that. 

Aqua gives her a strange look. “Most of the castle is old. My duty is to see to it’s upkeep.” 

The tube dings again, and Xion steps out, looking extremely confused. 

“That’s….” 

“It’s an experience,” Aqua says, a smile playing over her mouth for the first time today. “Kairi, are you ready?” 

“As I’ll ever be,” Kairi says. Aqua taps the machine for a final time, and she braces herself as she steps inside the tube. It’s not that small – she can reach out and touch the walls, but she doesn’t feel trapped. 

It starts to hum, and she shivers as magic washes over her skin. It’s like she’s swimming, and something brushes up against her foot – or like someone had just tickled a feather against her skin in the middle of the night. Except all over her body all at once. She screws up her face and resists the urge to itch, trying to stay as still as possible in the hopes that would speed the process up. The magic builds, and builds, and the tube starts glowing. Kairi closes her eyes, but that doesn’t help for long.

“Aqua!” she yells, as she covers her eyes with her hands. The magic is hot and electric on her skin, but just as fast as it builds, it falls away again. Kairi waits until she hears the tube dings, and then gingerly opens her eyes. The tube looks normal again. She steps outside, feeling quite exhausted all of a sudden. 

“Kairi!” Naminé exclaims. “Are you alright?” 

“Uh… what happened?” Kairi asks. 

“The tube started to glow really brightly,” Xion says, putting her hand on Kairi’s shoulder. “What happened? Are you okay?” 

“I’m okay, I think,” Kairi says, flexing her hands. “What was that?” 

“A mistake on my behalf,” Aqua says. “My apologies.” 

Kairi rounds on her. “What does that mean?” 

Aqua looks at her silently. Kairi sets her jaw and doesn’t look away. 

“I didn’t take into consideration the circumstances,” she finally says. “It won’t happen again. What matters is that all three of you have had your measurements taken. Let’s go back upstairs. It’ll take a few days for the armour to be made.” 

“Wait–” Kairi tries to say, but Aqua sweeps past her without even looking at her. Kairi looks at Xion and Naminé, who look as confused as she feels. 

“That’s odd,” Xion says. “Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about it?” 

“Something haunts her,” Naminé says quietly. “I can tell.” 

Kairi crosses her arms and sighs. “Whatever. Let’s go.” 

She marches after Aqua, who has already disappeared out the door. When Kairi makes it to the corridor, that’s empty as well. 

“What’s wrong with her?” Kairi asks Naminé. 

“I can still tell when memories are stirring, even if I can’t interact with them anymore,” Naminé says. “Aqua is like a still pool with great and dangerous depths. I don’t know how much she can take before it’s too much for her.” 

“Well, if we’re her students, she should take care of us,” Kairi says, but she can’t keep up the anger. It’s not like her, and if Naminé is right, something about the situation must have reminded Aqua of the Realm of Darkness, or the horrible things that happened before she was put there. Kairi can’t bring herself to blame her for being curt when she’s thinking about all of that.

“Maybe,” Naminé says. Kairi shivers, and walks after her when her sister starts down the hallway. 

* * *

The courtyard behind the castle is just big enough for three people to train together. Aqua had set her and Xion to spar against each other for a little bit. It’s slightly unnerving to see the similarities between Xion’s fighting style, and Sora’s, which Kairi is much more familiar with. It leads to her tripping Xion up more than Xion is able to disarm her. 

“Okay,” Aqua calls from the sidelines. “Remember to stretch. Good sparring, both of you.” 

Kairi nods at Xion, who gives her a thumbs up right back. “I’ll get you next time,” Xion promises. 

“You can try,” Kairi says, grinning. Xion huffs at her. 

Naminé is sitting at the side of the courtyard, on the steps that lead back up to the castle interior. Her sketchbook is spread across her knees, and even though Kairi hasn’t caught her peeking at them yet, she’s pretty sure the two of them are the subject of Naminé’s drawings today. 

“Both of you already have a solid foundation,” Aqua says. “I think something we should work on first is your command styles.” 

“Command styles?” Kairi asks. “What are those?” 

“Hm,” Aqua says. She summons her Keyblade. “Both of you, against me.” 

Kairi exchanges a look with Xion. “Okay,” Xion says. 

“Ready when you are,” Aqua says, holding her Keyblade out in front of her. 

Kairi doesn’t wait for anything more than that. Her fights against Aqua yesterday have taught her that if she wants to get anything in edgewise, she’s going to have to surprise Aqua, and she’s going to have to do it fast. She goes in low, and is easily rebuffed. Aqua blocks an attack from Xion with her magical shield, and Kairi uses the split second after it falls to make her move. Aqua barely cartwheels out of the way, and Kairi closes the distance between them quickly, only to run into Xion, who is doing the exact same thing. 

It throws them both off, enough for Aqua to gain some space and start throwing fireballs at them. Kairi yelps as she slides out of the way, while Xion just lets them splash against her Keyblade. Aqua shoots an ice spell at Xion, which looks a bit tricker to block, but Kairi is grudgingly impressed when she does. 

Kairi darts around to the side and tries to come up in Aqua’s blind spot, but at the last second Aqua turns on her and blasts her with a lightning spell. Kairi’s teeth clench against her will as the magic runs through her, stunning her in place. She hears a whooping sound, and when she manages to blink her eyes open again, Aqua is cloaked in a shroud of pink and purple magic. 

“Get around to her other side!” Xion yells. Kairi wants to ask what side that even means, but takes it as a hint to stay out of Xion’s way. Aqua’s attacks have changed in scope, her Keyblade flying around without her needing to touch it, spinning through the air precisely. Kairi winces as Xion cops Aqua’s Keyblade to the face in a fierce combo, and attempts to cast her own fire spell at Aqua. Aqua shifts so that Xion is in the way, and she gets hit instead. 

“Sorry!” Kairi shouts. 

Xion just grunts as she eats dirt. That leaves Aqua to focus her attacks on Kairi, who is immediately put on the backfoot. With the extended reach that Aqua now has, Kairi can’t find an opening, and is on the defensive when she isn’t just purely backpedalling. 

Xion comes in from the side to give her a second of breathing space, except that doesn’t happen because Aqua starts doing some crazy shit where she’s spinning around and magic is flying everywhere, and Kairi throws her Keyblade to the side and gets out of there because she doesn’t want any part of whatever is going on. She lands next to Naminé, who is intently studying the ice crystals that have just burst out of nowhere to surround Aqua. 

“Blue or purple?” she asks. 

“Blue,” Kairi says without even knowing what she’s asking for. Everything about Aqua is blue. 

Naminé hums and starts drawing again as Aqua finally comes out of the spin. Xion looks  _ quite  _ the worse for wear. 

“That was a command style,” Aqua is telling Xion while helping her off the ground. Aqua pins Kairi with a hard look when she gets within speaking distance. “Kairi, abandoning your teammate in the middle of a fight is not appropriate.” 

Kairi bristles. “I didn’t want to get caught up in your… whatever. If it took both of us out, then that’s not helpful to anyone. I didn’t go far.” 

“You two need to work on your teamwork,” Aqua says, like Kairi hadn’t said anything at all. “You were working against each other just as much as you were working together in that fight. Your strength comes from the people around you. If you have allies in a battle, then you  _ must  _ make use of them. You won’t always have the luxury of fighting with people you know well. It’s a strong skill to be able to adapt on the fly and make your own style fit with those around you.” 

Kairi nods grudgingly, and she sees Xion doing the same, though she has a thoughtful look on her face. 

“I’m used to fighting with Roxas or Lea,” Xion says. “But you’re right, Aqua.” 

Aqua nods. “That command style was called Spellweaver. It’s one of my personal styles, and the one I usually find easiest to use. There are a few others that are perhaps better for beginners, so I’ll show you them too. Now, remember to work together this time.” 

Aqua soundly beats them around the courtyard while showing them the different types of magic. There’s one where she’s wreathed in flames, and one where her Keyblade gains an extra long blade on top of it to more than double her reach. Kairi finds that one particularly annoying, and studies the spells that Aqua uses in the lead up to it intently. There’s one where Aqua zips around, full of electricity, and there’s one where she flickers from place to place, leaving echoes and afterimages of herself as decoys for Kairi to fall through. 

Kairi learns Xion’s fighting style, and after the sixth match they can work with each other fairly well. Or at least, Kairi can predict what Xion is most likely to do, and Xion is probably doing the same. Aqua tells them that the spells they use before the command style are important, and quizzes them on which she had used in the cool down between each bout. 

“You have to let the magic flow into you, to become a part of you,” Aqua says as she slices through the air with her extremely large extra blade. “Don’t let it overwhelm you. You must be in control of it, or you’ll lose any chance you have of successfully completing the change. Understand?” 

Kairi doesn’t understand. She shoots fire until her fingertips feel crispy, and uses her light spells sparingly, and tries to land her slash attacks, but Aqua avoids or blocks too many of them for her to build up a rhythm. 

By the time they call a close on training for the day, neither she or Xion have changed command styles. Aqua doesn’t look too surprised about that. 

“It takes time,” she says. “And your magic reserves need to be bigger, both of you. We’ll try again tomorrow, and the day after that, and eventually I know you’ll both succeed.” 

Aqua looks up towards the sky. She’s been doing that several times through the day, and Kairi wonders if she’s trying to look for something. 

“Go and get cleaned up,” Aqua says instead. “I’ll see you all at dinner.” 

Kairi watches her go. Xion has already moved to stretches, touching her toes before leaning back up. Kairi hears something pop, and Xion lets out a quiet sigh. 

“Well, that sure was something,” Xion says. “Interesting day, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Kairi says. 

Naminé appears between them, her sketchbook held under her arm. “You both did well,” she praises. “Do you think Terra and Ventus will join us for dinner?” 

“Were they supposed to be back today?” Kairi asks. 

Naminé shakes her head. “Tomorrow, I think. But they could be early.” 

“Maybe,” Kairi says. “But I doubt it.” 

Naminé hums quietly. “You should stretch as well, Kairi. I’ll go and help Aqua with dinner.” 

“Okay,” Kairi says. She finally dispels her Keyblade and inspects her fingers. They  _ are  _ singed, which means that she should probably invest in some gloves. Will her wardrobe give her that, if she asks? 

She shakes the thought off, and copies Xion’s current pose. Something to think about for later, when she isn’t completely exhausted and ready to fall into her bed. 

* * *

_ Dear Sora,  _

_ It feels like it’s been an age since I last saw you. It’s been a while since I wrote. I was sleeping, and remembering… so much. We’ve really been through it all in the last few years, haven’t we?  _

_ Riku should be on his way to your side. The two of you had better not get into any trouble! I know even now that won’t happen, but I’d like to pretend that it could. That Riku could whisk you back to me, and we could all be together again.  _

_ I’m training under Master Aqua now. She’s a bit prickly, but I’m pretty sure she wants to help. Xion and Naminé are here, too. Have they finally worked out that they like each other? I’m not too sure how to ask something so personal. Everyone seems to have moved on while I was asleep.  _

_ Terra and Ven are still living here, but I haven’t seen them yet. They were supposed to come back today, but the sun has set, and I’ve retired to my room, and there’s no sign of them. Aqua is looking twitchier by the hour. If they haven’t appeared by tomorrow morning, I don’t think Aqua is going to stay here when she could be out there, looking for them.  _

_ What does it say about me, that I let Riku go on without me?  _

_ I need to be more confident in myself. Maybe that’s something I can find here.  _

_ Until next time.  _

_ Yours forever,  _

_ Kairi _

* * *

Aqua isn’t at breakfast the next morning. Kairi enters the strange kitchen and cooks herself, just to try it out. The disjointment she feels upon leaving with an enormous stack of pancakes in one hand that took her the better part of an hour to make, and Xion and Naminé still in the middle of the sentence she left them in, is pretty convincing that she doesn’t want to do it alone again. 

“Have you seen Aqua today?” Naminé asks her. 

Kairi shakes her head. 

“I don’t think Terra and Ven made it home last night,” Xion says, carefully drizzling honey over her pancakes. “And Aqua seemed pretty certain they would be here, and they don’t seem the type to stress her out without reason. Do you think they’re in trouble?” 

“Maybe,” Kairi says. 

“Do you think Aqua will take us along if she leaves?” Naminé says. “She doesn’t have a gummi ship; she traverses worlds on her Keyblade. And I don’t think our armour is done just yet.” 

“I could ring Donald and Goofy and ask them for a lift,” Kairi suggests. “Are they the only ones with a gummi ship?” 

“I think King Mickey has some more on his world,” Xion muses. “And Cid has one. Other than that, I don’t know.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Aqua says, her voice cutting through their discussion. “You three are staying here.” 

Kairi stands up, something hot flaring in her chest. “You might need backup,” she says stubbornly. “And you shouldn’t go alone.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Aqua tells her. “I’ve handled more on my own before.” 

“Are you sure?” Naminé asks, peering up at her. “It’s better to go in numbers than to be overwhelmed.” 

“Naminé is right,” Xion agrees. “We should go with you.” 

“I’ll call Donald and Goofy right now,” Kairi says, pulling out her phone. Aqua says something else to Xion, but Kairi can’t hear her over the sudden rushing of blood in her ears. 

“Hello!” Donald quacks when he picks up. “Kairi, is that you?” 

“Hi Donald,” Kairi says, smiling down at him. “Are you busy right now? There’s a bit of an emergency over here.” 

“An emergency! What’s happening?!” 

“Terra and Ven haven’t come back, and Aqua wants to go after them by herself, just on her Keyblade. Can you come by with the gummi ship, and pick us up so we can all go?” 

“We actually just finished visiting our home world,” Goofy says from the background. “I’ll set a course straight to ya!” 

“Thanks guys,” Kairi says. “I’ll let the others know. See you soon!” 

“This is unnecessary,” Aqua says. 

“And we’re not going to take no for an answer,” Kairi tells her cheerfully. “So why don’t you sit down and eat some breakfast while we wait for them to get here?” 

She refuses to break eye contact with Aqua. This really is for the best; and she’s not getting left behind. Not again. 

“You should eat something to keep up your strength,” Naminé says. Aqua finally looks away, only to sit down at the head of the table. Xion puts a pancake on her plate, and Kairi slowly sits down again too, watching Aqua stare at her plate out of the corner of her eye. 

Aqua eats in tiny bites, and will often drop her cutlery entirely to scan the room. She has left food on her plate for every meal that Kairi has eaten with her in the last two days, and she doesn’t look like she enjoys any of it. Did she have to eat, in the Realm of Darkness? Kairi isn’t sure she wants to know. 

“What were Terra and Ven doing?” Xion asks Aqua, effectively distracting her from the little interest she had been showing in her food. 

“There’s a device in the Master’s Tower that shows the relative levels of light and dark in the worlds closest to us,” Aqua says. “When there were more worlds with Keyblade wielders, we would each take care of those in our orbit. A strange spike showed up on one of them, and so Terra and Ven went to investigate.” Her lips thin. “There’s always supposed to be a Master in residence here, which is why I didn’t go along in the first place. But there’s no other option now.” 

Kairi looks out the window to the front courtyard in the vain hope that Terra and Ven have landed in the last few minutes. 

“A strange spike,” Xion muses. “I guess this is what Keyblade wielders used to do all the time, huh. Taking care of worlds… meeting new people. Kind of like what we did in the Organisation. Someone had to be there to take out all the Heartless.” 

“Actually, the Heartless were trapped in the Realm of Darkness until about thirteen years ago,” Aqua says. “Before that, it was extremely rare to see them in the Realm of Light.” 

“Really?” Xion asks. 

“That was when Radiant Garden fell,” Kairi says. “It was the first wave that spread the Heartless to all the other worlds.” 

“Indeed,” Aqua says. “If only – nevermind. If the three of you are coming, you should go and get ready. Donald and Goofy should be here soon.” 

Kairi shoves a last bite of pancake in her mouth. “Sounds like a plan,” she says through her mouthful. 

“I’ll be up in a second,” Xion says, digging into her almost full plate. 

“I’ll go with you Kairi,” Naminé says. The two of them make their way upstairs. 

“Do you think Aqua’s okay?” Kairi asks, not really knowing if Naminé will have an answer. 

“Her memories are ever present,” Naminé says, frowning. “I don’t know if she’s wallowing in them, or if they’re haunting her.” 

“Do you think you could help her?” Kairi asks in a burst of inspiration. “Like… I don’t know. You used to be able to touch people’s memories, right?” 

“I lost most of my powers when I was put into this new body,” Naminé says. “I haven’t tried something like that. There’s been no need to.” 

“I don’t know if Aqua would accept it,” Kairi says. “But maybe it’s worth thinking about.” 

“Maybe,” Naminé says quietly. “Let’s just focus on finding Ventus and Terra for now.” 

“Right,” Kairi agrees. 

Her wardrobe gives her a clean set of her normal clothes, and Kairi changes as quickly as she can. It’s not like she has anything else to bring – she switches out the potions that were in her other pockets, but that’s about it. 

She meets Xion on the way downstairs. “Donald and Goofy just landed,” she says. “They tried to call the others, but they didn’t pick up. They’re planning the rescue mission with Aqua right now.” 

“Got it,” Kairi says. “Let’s go get them back, yeah?” 

Xion nods firmly. “Yeah.” 

Kairi descends to the main courtyard, and wonders if Aqua ate any of her breakfast. 

* * *

Kairi looks out the window of the gummi ship. Meteors and Heartless ships zip past them, but Donald navigates easily through space as he follows the chart that Aqua has laid out. 

“I can see the world,” Goofy calls to the back. Kairi, Xion, and Naminé are sitting in the hold, since there are only three seats up front. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” she says. 

“It’s a lot weirder than a dark corridor,” Xion agrees. 

“And slower,” Naminé adds. “Though there’s a lot less risk.” 

The dark corridors had nipped at her skin, but when she went through them Kairi never felt afraid. If all the others need the Organisation coats to successfully traverse them, does that mean she’s special? Or was it just because she had a heart when the Nobodies didn’t? 

She hears Aqua say something, but it’s too quiet to make out the words. The gummi ship lurches and then turns, and Kairi squishes her face against the window to try and see the world that they’re coming up to. 

“It looks like a bunch of trees,” she dutifully reports to the other two. They’re holding hands – another point in favour that they’re dating. Really, she could ask, but it’s almost embarrassing.  _ I was in a coma for the last few months – what went on in your romantic life in that time?  _ It’s not something she regrets, but she  _ does  _ wish it had been a little bit faster. 

“I haven’t gone to any new worlds since getting my body back,” Xion says. “Old worlds, yeah, but not anything new.” 

“I told you that training under Aqua was a good idea,” Naminé says quietly. 

“Yeah,” Xion murmurs back. “Yeah, you were right.” 

The trees get closer and closer, and Kairi makes out a white castle on the horizon just before they land. 

“We’ve arrived,” Donald quacks for everyone to hear. “Feel free to disembark!” 

By the time Kairi is out, Aqua is already standing at the tree line. Her Keyblade is out and her eyes are closed, like she’s trying to find something. 

“Have you been here before?” Xion asks Goofy. 

“Nope,” he says. “But I guess we’ll have a look see around too. Can’t leave y'all stranded.” 

“Thanks,” Xion says. “You’d be a great help.” 

“Aqua?” Kairi calls. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” 

Aqua doesn’t reply. Xion just shrugs when she looks back at her. 

“We could split up to cover more ground,” Xion suggests. “We could go in pairs, and send a text or call on our gummi phones if we find anything. That would probably be faster.” 

“Yeah,” Kairi says, still staring at Aqua. “I think Aqua’s got it though. And nothing’s going to stop her from running straight towards it when she finds it. I think we should wait and then go with her.” 

“Aqua’s heart is strongly connected to Terra and Ven’s,” Naminé adds. “I think Kairi is right. She’ll probably be able to find them now that they’re all on the same world.” 

Kairi closes her own eyes, trying to get a feel for this place. There’s a balance of light and dark, like in any new world she goes to. The light seems to be concentrated in the forest, while the dark is in the castle. But there’s a strange feeling to the forest too – right between the highs of light and dark. Kairi shoos away a bug that landed on her arm as she thinks about it. 

“I’m going to the forest,” Aqua says suddenly, and takes off in a ground eating lope. 

“Come on,” Kairi says, wasting no time following after her. 

“Donald! Hurry up!” Goofy calls out. Naminé and Xion fall into place behind her, and Kairi focuses on Aqua’s blue hair as it weaves between the trees. They’re lucky that the ground is fairly clear, because she wouldn’t want to try and run this fast in thick undergrowth. 

“Can you feel anything?” Kairi asks the others. 

“I can’t,” Xion says. 

“No,” Naminé adds. “Can you?” 

“Something,” Kairi says. “I don’t know what. But Aqua’s headed straight for it.” 

There’s no noise from up ahead, which is almost worse. If there was something roaring, or something destroying the landscape, then it would be clear what happened to Ven and Terra. Instead they approach the strangeness in the woods, and Kairi’s stomach grows ever increasingly uneasy as Aqua doesn’t falter in her run. 

The clearing that they come across is eerily silent. Kairi steps out from under the trees and looks around uneasily. The grass is still, without any breeze to move it. The sun feels distant, like there’s a layer between her and it that isn’t there normally. She shivers. 

Xion and Naminé come out of the trees and pause by her side. Aqua is standing half a dozen paces in front, her Keyblade out, still. 

“Aqua?” Xion calls. Aqua doesn’t move. Kairi squints; she can still see her shoulders moving as she breathes. 

“Something isn’t right,” Naminé says, clearly unnerved. “This place…” 

“Aqua,” Kairi says sharply. “Step away from it.” 

“Can’t you see?” Aqua says slowly. “There’s no other option. We must go to it.” 

Kairi exchanges an alarmed look with the other two. 

“I can’t feel anything,” Naminé says. “Why don’t you come back here?” 

“I didn’t think I would feel this ever again,” Aqua says, in a stilted tone that sounds nothing like how she normally speaks. “It’s been a year, but that’s nothing. I still remember.” 

Kairi takes a step forward. She still doesn’t feel great about the whole situation, but otherwise nothing changes. Emboldened, she takes another two steps. She could almost reach out and touch Aqua now. 

“Aqua,” she says. “Look at me.” 

“Did they know?” Aqua says, voice sinking. “They went on without me. Like always.” 

Kairi braces herself and steps forward to grab Aqua’s arm. “Aqua,” she says again, urgent. “Come on. Turn around. Let’s go.” 

“I…” Aqua puts her hand on her head. 

Xion darts forward and catches Aqua as she sways into a faint. 

“What’s happening here?!” Goofy yells from behind her. 

“Huh?”

Kairi ignores Donald and Goofy in order to help Xion lower Aqua to the ground. “What’s wrong with her?” Kairi asks urgently. 

“I don’t know!” Xion says, alarm making her eyes wide. 

“The dark energy here must have been too much for her,” Naminé says, clasping her hands in front of her. “It’s very strong.” 

“All of ya need to get out of there!” Goody calls. “Me and Donald can’t come any further!” 

“Grab her other arm,” Kairi directs. “We should go.” 

“Right.” 

She and Xion work together to pull Aqua away from the centre of the clearing. 

“Naminé!” Xion yells. “Come on!” 

Kairi looks up from trying to keep Aqua from braining herself on some random root. Naminé is still standing in the same place, her head bowed over her hands. 

“Naminé!” Kairi calls to her. 

Xion mutters something under her breath that Kairi doesn’t catch. “Kairi, let’s get Aqua out of trouble first,” she says, louder. “She can’t move herself.” 

“Yeah.” 

They drag Aqua back to the tree line, where Donald and Goofy are still anxiously standing. “How can you go in there?” Donald quacks. He puts a foot over the edge of the line that runs between the clearing and the trees, and then jumps back, yelping. 

“I don’t feel anything strange,” Kairi says. Xion drops Aqua and runs back to Naminé. Kairi staggers slightly under the extra weight, trying to lower Aqua to the ground as gently as she can. 

“Naminé! Naminé, what is it!” 

“Can’t you feel it?” Naminé asks. Kairi whirls, fear suddenly surging in her gut, but Naminé is looking at Xion. Xion reaches out to hold her hand tightly. 

“I can feel something super weird,” Xion says. “Something that shouldn’t be in this world. We don’t need to know any more than that.” 

“We will need to know if we want to find Terra and Ventus,” Naminé says stubbornly. “And I’m not in danger from this. You aren’t, and Kairi isn’t either. All three of us are different.”

“I think Aqua needs some space,” Kairi tells Donald and Goofy. “Can you bring the gummi ship around to here?” 

“Already on it,” Goofy is saying. 

“We’ll get her up there,” Donald agrees. 

“Okay,” Kairi says. She turns back to the clearing and steps into it. The strange pressure descends on her again, but it doesn’t feel like something dangerous. Something that’s watching her, maybe. 

“It reminds me of Castle Oblivion,” Naminé says, quiet enough that Kairi can only just hear her. “Something big.” 

“It reminds me of the space between,” Xion says grimly. “Can we find out anything?” 

“Let's have a quick look around,” Kairi says, sounding braver than she feels. “Naminé is right. We need something to go off if we want to find Terra and Ven.” 

Xion doesn’t let go of Naminé’s hand. Kairi skirts around the edges of the clearing, trying to see anything out of place. What could have caused this in the first place? Aqua said that they’d been drawn to this world by some unusual activity, so there must be something causing it. 

“Xion, Kairi,” Naminé says sharply. “Do you feel that?” 

“Yeah,” Kairi says uneasily. It’s like growing thunder on the horizon, dark clouds and the smell of rain in the air. Something’s coming. 

A shadow appears in the middle of the clearing, growing by the second. Kairi rounds on it just as it bursts from the ground, a tidal wave of Shadows forming together in a spiral of dark energy. 

“Xion!” Naminé yells as they’re torn apart from each other. 

“Naminé! Get behind me!” Kairi shouts, sprinting to cover her. Her Keyblade flashes into her hand, and she casts three fire spells in succession at the tower to keep it at bay. Naminé scrambles over to her just as Xion cuts through the middle of the tower, a snarl on her face. 

“Take that!” 

“Xion!” Naminé calls. 

“Naminé, get clear!” Xion says. She cartwheels to the ground and turns to blast it with fire. “Kairi! With me!” 

“I’m here!” 

Kairi leaps up and attacks the top of the tower, while Xion hacks at it from the bottom. The Heartless whip around and slam her across the clearing. Kairi rolls several times before coming to a stop, blinking rapidly as she tries to regain her bearings. 

“Here!” 

The coolness of a potion washes over her, and then Naminé helps her to her feet. 

“Thanks, Naminé,” Kairi says. 

“Be careful,” Naminé says, eyes fixed on where Xion has summoned pillars of light around her, a barrier to keep the tower at bay. “It’s strong.” 

“Yeah,” Kairi agrees. “You too.” 

She leaps back into the fray. Xion’s beams of light pass through her harmlessly, and Kairi uses them to her advantage by attacking in the moments where the Heartless are stunned by it. Xion finally falls back slightly, gasping her breath with her magic obviously spent. 

“Hiya!” Kairi finishes a combo and then throws her Keyblade, warping through space to grasp it’s handle just as it connects with a vulnerable spot on the tower. “Stay back!” 

The heartless tower recoils, but reforms a second later, buzzing on the spot. Kairi falls back next to Xion, who is glaring at it with narrowed eyes. 

“It’s not stopping,” Kairi says between gasps for air. 

“Not yet,” Xion replies. “Come on – let’s show it what Master Aqua has taught us!” 

Kairi looks at her, surprised, but Xion is already running forward again. She casts thunder, fire, and then dark fire in rapid succession, and lands a combo. She backflips in the air, and Kairi almost sees it in slow motion – how the magic builds and then explodes around her, surrounding her with electrifying dark power. 

Xion disappears, and reappears on the other side of the Heartless. Kairi watches her attack as she chases after them, running across the clearing to try and find an opportunity to strike a blow. She casts fire, but the tower sways out of the way so the spell misses. Gritting her teeth, she throws her Keyblade, imbuing it with a touch of magic so it flies further and faster. She comes out basically on top of the tower, and almost crashes into Xion as she flickers into view to start another chain of attacks. 

“Sorry!” Kairi says. Xion darts away, another lightning attack raining down on the Heartless. Now that she’s closer, Kairi shoots off a blizzard, and then a homing fire spell that explodes on impact. Aqua had said to let the magic flow – to let it take hold but not let it take over, to control the flow of it like any other spell. She double strikes, and closes her eyes, and lets her next fire spell build in her chest. She remembers seeing Riku do something like this once with his darkness; it’d all looked so natural, so easy, like it was a foretold conclusion to his movements. She needs to make it look that easy. It needs to feel that natural. 

So she breathes out, and spins on the spot, adding a flair to her movements that she wouldn’t normally. She holds the fire in her chest until it  _ almost  _ starts to burn. Kairi points her Keyblade at the tower and the fireball that bursts from it is probably the biggest she’s ever produced. 

The impact of the spell sends her reeling, magic washing over her skin. Kairi braces, but it’s her own magic, and it settles easily over her like a favourite hoodie might. 

“Yes!” Xion cries. “You’re looking great, Kairi!” 

Kairi slashes at the tower as it wheels close to her again, the light magic that is coating her Keyblade giving her a far greater reach than she would otherwise have. 

“Right back at you!” she replies. “Now come on, let’s finish this!” 

Kairi commits to a flurry of attacks. Her command style makes everything seem slower – or maybe she’s just moving quicker. Xion warps around the battlefield, making use of Kairi’s openings. It’s obvious that she’s used to working with someone, and Kairi promises herself that she’ll get better at that, too. 

The tower wavers, and Kairi pushes their advantage, her extended reach making it easy to corner it. 

“You get the bottom; I’ll get the top,” Xion says. “Now!” 

Kairi leaps forward, her Keyblade extended to the side as she passes the tower. At the same moment, Xion appears at the top and cuts through it. Kairi’s breath rasps in her throat as she turns just in time to see the Heartless horde fall apart under the combined assault. 

“Nice,” Xion says, appearing at Kairi’s side. The magic that had surrounded her is gone, and Kairi feels her own shroud fading from around her. 

“Did we get it?” Kairi asks, looking around. The clearing is now torn up thanks to the fight, and some of the trees around the edges have been downed. The murky feeling in the air has passed; or at least lessened. 

“For now,” Xion says firmly. 

“Did the others go back to the gummi ship?” Kairi asks, looking for any movement in the trees. Naminé had been with her at the start of the fight, but she’d ducked away pretty quickly. 

“Looks like,” Xion answers. “Let’s go find them.” 

“Yeah.” 

They don’t have to go far before they stumble across the gummi ship hovering just above the treeline. Xion waves it down, and Kairi lets her shoulders slump as she boards. It should be safe here, and even though Aqua is still down, she can afford to relax. 

“We can’t wake her,” Donald quacks miserably. “She looks like she’s sleeping, but…” 

“It’s definitely strange,” Goofy says. Naminé is standing by Aqua, her hand laid against her arm. 

“I can feel her dreams weaving between her memories,” she says. “I should be able to wake her. I’ll just need some time.” 

“Of course,” Xion says. “And I think we need to regroup. Can you take us back to the Land of Departure?” 

“Sure thing,” Donald agrees, racing off to the cockpit. 

“I’ll make sure it’s a smooth flight,” Goofy promises before going after him. 

“Naminé?” Xion asks quietly. “Are you sure?” 

Naminé nods. “The familiarity of the Land of Departure might make things easier. I’ll wait until then to really start trying.” 

“Right,” Xion says. 

“What would you do?” Kairi asks her. “Can you really reach her when she’s asleep?”

“I have a lot of practise meddling with dreams,” Naminé says wryly. “Aqua isn’t who I’m used to helping, but we have a connection. I’m sure I’ll be able to do it.” 

“Just make sure you don’t do anything risky,” Xion says. She looks at Kairi. “She tried to help someone back in Twilight Town and got lost within their dreams for over a week before she could escape.” 

“There’s an inherent danger in navigating a dream landscape that isn’t your own,” Naminé admits. “But I’m the best person to do it.” She looks down at Aqua. “And I can tell that this is no natural sleep. If I don’t help her, I don’t know when she would wake up.” 

Kairi swallows. “Well, we can’t have that. And maybe if Aqua had such a bad reaction to that place, she’ll know what was happening, and maybe where Ven and Terra are.” 

Xion nods. “That’s true. We need to find them as soon as we can.” She pulls out her gummi phone. “Still no messages from either of them.” 

“I didn’t even think of that,” Kairi admits. She gets out her own phone, but she doesn’t have any notifications either. “Do you think that they lost theirs?” 

“Maybe,” Xion frowns. “Ienzo programmed these to work in any world, so that shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t see any other reason why they wouldn’t answer me.” 

“Okay,” Kairi says. “Let’s just get back to the Land of Departure. If Naminé can wake Aqua, maybe she’ll have a better idea of what’s going on.” 

Xion’s frown deepens, seemingly not liking the idea anymore than Kairi does. “Yeah.” 

“We’ll be there sooner than you think,” Naminé says. Kairi closes her eyes, and hopes so.

* * *

Kairi sits on the stairs at the front of the castle and looks up at the sky. It’s still a clear blue. She hasn’t seen any clouds in the few days that she’s been here. 

Naminé is inside, trying to wake Aqua, and Kairi is out here, waiting. She’d sparred with Xion for a bit, and they’d tried and failed to recreate their command styles, before deciding it would probably be a good idea to save their energy. Her letter writing notepad is on her knees, but she hasn’t put anything down on paper yet. After the high of defeating the demon tower had faded, her mood had plummeted. She’d helped Xion defeat one enemy, but they still have no clue where Terra or Ven are, and she’s relying on someone asleep to have the answers. It’s like a twisted version of a game that Kairi had thought she was already done playing. 

She presses the tip of her pen to the page, but even then she doesn’t know what to say. Sighing, she closes the notebook and tucks into her back pocket. It’s been a few hours since they got back; she’ll go and check on Naminé and Aqua. 

The medical wing is under the dining room, and she descends the steps as quietly as she can. If Naminé is concentrating, she doesn’t want to disturb her. But when she peers into the room she’d helped take Aqua to earlier, Naminé is sitting at the small desk on the side, sketching something. 

“I thought your powers didn’t work like that anymore,” Kairi says, stepping over to Aqua. She’s still pale, but her face is peaceful. She just looks like she’s asleep. 

“They don’t,” Naminé says. “But I still like to draw something out when I’m trying to think my way around a problem. It’s how I used to do it, and sometimes it still helps me find a way to solve it.” 

There’s only one seat in the room, and Naminé is in it currently, so Kairi leans against the wall between Aqua and Naminé, and looks at what Naminé is drawing. It’s Terra and Ven, but they’re surrounded by darkness. She’s drawn them facing away, so Kairi can’t see what expressions they’re wearing. 

“Have you ever dealt with something like this before?” 

“Something like it,” Naminé says. “But Aqua’s memories are delicate. They were once under an immense amount of pressure for a long time. And from what I know, time in the Realm of Darkness isn’t like time in the Realm of Light. She was extremely resilient, but it has taken its toll. I need to take care with her.” 

“I trust that you can,” Kairi says. Naminé bows her head slightly. “I’m serious. You know the consequences of messing around with someone’s head better than anyone. You’ll be careful.” 

“I’m trying,” Naminé says. “And like I said, I’ve already done something similar once. Since that was successful, I’m trying to adapt the process for Aqua. I think I’ll be able to wake her soon.” 

“That’s good,” Kairi says, relieved. “Is there anything I can do? Or Xion?” 

Naminé shakes her head. “Xion has already promised me dinner.” A small smile quirks her mouth. “It’s still strange sometimes, having to eat and sleep. When I worked on Sora’s memories, I did so for days sometimes, without stopping at all.” 

“If you need a break, take it,” Kairi says. 

“I am.” Naminé lifts her sketchbook slightly. 

“Okay,” Kairi says. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Just text me if you need anything.” 

Naminé picks up her crayon again. Kairi lingers by Aqua for another few seconds, looking down at her still expression. Aqua’s presence had filled entire rooms by itself just a day ago, and now she’s quiet and still and missable. 

Kairi leaves the room without touching anything in it, and feels just as listless as she did when she entered. 

* * *

“Hey, Kairi?” 

“Hm?”

Xion has swapped her dark trousers out for a white shirt and black shorts. She touches the spine of a book, momentarily distracted from whatever it was that she’d come to say. 

“Find anything interesting?” Xion asks. “I haven’t had much time to come in here.” 

“Some things,” Kairi says. “I can’t understand a lot of it, though. Half of it is in a language I don’t know, and the half I can read, has words scattered throughout that obviously I’m already supposed to know. What I really need is a dictionary.” 

“Ha. Roxas and I were really into dictionaries when we first got our hearts back. It was something stable that could maybe explain everything else crazy that was going on,” Xion muses. “Anyway. There’s a weird beeping coming from the main hallway. Did you… do anything?” 

“I’ve just been in here all morning,” Kairi says. “Unless one of these books triggered a secret passageway somewhere that I didn’t know about.” 

“I wouldn’t say that’s impossible,” Xion says. “There’s a lot of weird stuff in this library that aren’t books. Okay. Well, just checking.” 

“Where is it?” Kairi says, marking her place in the book and putting it down. “I’ll go and look.” 

Xion leads her to the front hall, where there is a soft but unmistakable beeping noise coming from somewhere. The two of them try to locate a source before Kairi gives up and blames the noise on magic. 

“What else could it be?” she asks Xion. 

“I’m not saying it’s not that,” Xion says. “But it has to be caused by something, doesn’t it?” 

“We’ve only been here for less than a week,” Kairi reminds her. “Maybe this is normal.” 

“Does it sound normal?” 

“There is  _ nothing  _ normal about this world.” 

“Okay, that’s true,” Xion admits. “This world is weird. It’s kind of annoying, though.” 

It is. “Maybe it’s something downstairs?” Kairi asks, thinking of the giant amounts of machinery they’d passed by. Aqua said that it had been there for hundreds of years… of course, now would be the worst time for any of it to break. 

“Where the Keyblade armour making machine is?” Xion asks, frowning. “Well… I suppose we could go and have a look.” 

It takes them the better part of an hour to find their way back to the room, backtracking down several hallways that turn out to be dead ends. Kairi is almost ready to give up on the whole thing, except that they can hear the beeping down here as well and it’s now officially bugging her. 

Kairi looks around the room with the enormous amounts of strange contraptions. She hadn’t exactly been in here long enough to pay a lot of attention last time, and there’s nothing obviously on fire, so if something’s wrong, then she can’t pick it. 

“It all looks the same,” Xion says, disappointed. “Do you remember anything being different?” 

Kairi shakes her head. “Guess we came down here for nothing.” 

The two of them share a commiserating look. “It’s dumb,” Xion says. “But I thought that if we could fix this one small thing…” 

“It would be at least a little bit helpful,” Kairi finishes. “Yeah, I know.” 

“I can’t help Naminé with any of her memory stuff,” Xion sighs. “And now we have a beeping entrance way. Great.” 

“A perk of getting to live here,” Kairi says lightly, and that at least makes Xion laugh. 

“Want to head back up then? We’ve been down here for a while.” 

“Yeah, let’s.” 

They almost make it back to the door before Kairi speaks again. “When do you think Aqua will wake up?” 

“When Naminé finishes her work,” Xion says confidently. “Try not to worry about it, Kairi.” 

She’s probably right. Even so, it sits uncomfortably in her chest.

“Kairi, Xion.” 

Kairi almost runs straight into the person who had spoken. Xion has to grab the back of her shirt, and Kairi takes a step back to look up at Aqua. There are lines under her eyes (can you be tired after sleeping for over a day?) but she’s very obviously awake. 

“Aqua!” Xion says, grinning. “Glad to see you back in the land of the waking.” 

Kairi elbows Xion slightly, and they let Aqua pass as she enters the room. Naminé trails after her, and Xion offers her hand for a high five. Naminé gives her the quietest one that Kairi has ever seen, so she follows it up with one of her own for Xion that echoes through the room. 

“Great job,” Xion says to Naminé. “I knew you could do it.” 

Naminé nods. “Aqua says that our armour is ready. That’s what the beeping is.” 

“The notification bell was going off,” Aqua says, striding towards the machine that took their measurements a few days ago. 

“We were so close!” Xion hisses to Kairi. They sigh in tandem, and then Kairi shrugs. 

“At least we get our armour now!” 

“That  _ is  _ true.” 

Aqua is pressing some buttons on the side of the machine when they catch up to her. “Naminé, yours is first,” she says. “Here.” 

The machine bellows out steam, but a second later it spits out two armoured shoes and a strange looking button. Naminé picks up the button and holds it against her arm. It’s only when it automatically creates an armband does Kairi realise that it’s a pauldron, like Aqua wears. 

“The shoes should fit,” Aqua says, pressing more buttons. “Okay, Xion you’re next.” 

Naminé’s boots had been white, but Xion’s are a dark ebony, with a touch of gold around the top. Xion grabs them so they’re out of the way, and joins Naminé on the floor to put her new shoes on. 

Kairi hops on the spot, and  _ finally  _ Aqua turns to her. “Here is yours, Kairi.” 

“Yes!” she crows. Excitement thrums in her as she darts forward. The shoes are silver and rose gold, and she takes them and the pauldron to put on. 

“They should all fit, but tell me if something feels strange and I’ll see if I can adjust it,” Aqua says. 

“They feel good,” Naminé says, walking around in a circle to try her shoes out. Kairi pulls her new shoes on, and agrees with Naminé – they don’t feel like new shoes at all. It’s more like they’re old friends, already familiar with each other. 

“Here,” Aqua says, and helps Kairi adjust her pauldron. “You can wear more armour in your everyday wear if you want to; Ven does. Get a feel for it, and you can change as necessary.” 

“How do I activate it?” Kairi asks her. 

“Tap the pauldron with your palm, and think about summoning it to you. Just like your Keyblade.” 

Kairi thinks about being protected, about it being as comfortable as these shoes are. Xion and Naminé both look like they’re concentrating as much as she is. 

She closes her eyes and smacks her palm against her pauldron. The magic whisks over her, and when she blinks her eyes open, there’s a golden-pink tint to the world. 

Similar pulses of magic happen to her side, and she looks over to see Xion holding her arms up to inspect herself. Xion’s armour is all black and gold, with red accents on the breastplate and knees. Naminé’s armour is white and silver and blue and gold, with a shimmering white cape. 

“You all look splendid,” Aqua says. “I’m glad these still work.” 

Kairi looks around for a mirror, before going over to the machine and picking a reflective spot. 

“Okay,” Kairi says, looking at herself in the reflection of the metal. “Yeah. I can work with this.” 

* * *

The clearing somehow looks even more ominous the second time. Kairi waits for the darkness to gather again, or for Heartless to swarm them, but nothing happens. A single cricket chirps somewhere in the distance, but is quickly silenced. 

Donald and Goofy are waiting back at the gummi ship. Without any armour, Aqua had claimed that they would be vulnerable to the darkness here. Kairi has to turn her head to look at Aqua, instead of just peeking at her from the corner of her eye. Her new helmet hampers her peripheral vision slightly, but it’s worth it for the golden warmth that’s currently encompassing her. 

Aqua is wearing her full armour. She’s flanked on her other side by both Xion and Naminé, who had refused to be left behind. The two of them complement each other. Did the machine that made their armour take that into account? 

She shakes the thought from her head as Aqua speaks. “I don’t quite remember what happened after I arrived here,” she says. “You were attacked?” 

“By a demon tower,” Xion says. “They come through Twilight Town sometimes, but that was one of the strongest I’ve ever faced. I’m glad Kairi was here to help me take it down.” 

Aqua nods. “You both did well. I can tell that the darkness here is strong.” 

“Are we sure that Terra and Ven were here?” Kairi asks. 

“This was the world that triggered the alarm for strange activity,” Aqua says. “And this is definitely the only strange activity on this world. I checked last night to make sure.” 

Kairi looks around. Besides the grass being a sad yellow, there’s nothing really of note here. 

“There’s some type of glamour here,” Naminé says quietly. “But I don’t know how to disassemble it.” 

“I’m impressed you can tell,” Aqua says. “I can pull it down but we must be careful; I don’t know what’s on the other side.” 

“Do you think Terra and Ven managed to find whatever it was?” 

“Yes,” Aqua says. “They are both very good at getting into trouble.” She summons her Keyblade to her hand, and lifts it slowly. Kairi summons hers as well, and Xion echoes her. Naminé takes a step closer to Xion, and they brace themselves as Aqua starts waving her Keyblade around in a complicated pattern.” 

A dark wind picks up, and Kairi squints out of habit before realising that her helmet is protecting her. 

“Be ready,” Aqua says, a warning note in her voice. “It was focusing much of its attention on me last time, but it won’t find such easy prey here now. Naminé, watch yourself. Don’t take any risks if you don’t need to, and remember to have each other’s backs. Our bonds are what makes us strong.” 

There’s that same sense of weirdness that had crept over Kairi’s skin last time they were here, only now it’s much more muted. She can ignore it a lot easier too, which she hopes means that this fight will be easier to pull off. 

A light shines at the end of Aqua’s Keyblade, and it expands rapidly until Kairi can’t see anything. When the light fades the scenery around them has changed; instead of the clearing, they’re standing somewhere almost pitch black, like they’re underground. The ground underfoot is tinted to a colour somewhere between blue and purple, and there’s a mist in the air that makes it even more difficult to see. 

Terra and Ven are lying on the ground right up ahead of them. Kairi’s heart seizes for a moment as they run closer, but then they get close enough that she can see their chests moving as they breathe. 

Naminé kneels by Terra’s side, placing an armoured hand over his heart. 

“They’re both trapped in sleep, much like you were Aqua,” she says. “I should be able to wake them quite quickly; what I did for you will likely work for them.” 

“Guys,” Xion says sharply. “Look!” 

Kairi falls into a ready stance as she sees the tide of Heartless approaching. “Try to wake one of them up!” she yells at Naminé. Aqua is already sprinting forward to meet it, her Keyblade glowing with power. “We can’t carry both of them while fighting off all those.” 

Naminé gives her a terse nod, and then bows her head over Terra. A good choice – if they have to carry one of them out, Kairi would take Ven’s lean form over Terra’s muscle any day. 

“Kairi, let’s back Aqua up,” Xion says. “We have to make sure they don’t get to Naminé and the other two.” 

“Definitely,” Kairi says. “And Aqua shouldn’t be left to fight by herself – we don’t know when she might fall like she did before.” 

“All the more reason to fight with her now,” Xion says. She starts running, but Kairi just narrows her eyes, aims, and throws her Keyblade. 

It’s a longer warp than she would normally try, but she lands the hit, throwing the Heartless off balance. It’s another demon tower, which somehow looks even bigger than the one she and Xion had fought. It makes a bleak sort of sense – they’re in its domain now, wherever Aqua has brought them to. 

But they have their own advantage in this fight. Aqua spins past Kairi, cloaked in a powerful magical aura and flinging her Keyblade every which way. The spells that she flicks off with her fingers are more powerful than the ones that Kairi concentrates really hard on, and it’s humbling to see the world of difference between them. Aqua has been doing this for a long time – longer than Kairi has been alive, really. She really could learn a lot from her. 

She deflects a blow that would have sent Xion sprawling, and Xion flashes a wave at her in thanks. The two of them work together to force the Heartless away from Naminé and her charges, giving all the humans a bit of space to breathe. 

“Try the same strategy as last time?” Xion asks her. 

“It worked last time,” Kairi agrees. “But this ones bigger.” 

“And we have to work with Aqua too,” Xion points out. 

Kairi looks at Aqua, who is almost wild in her attacks. “Yeah, right. You try telling her the plan.” 

With Xion’s helmet on, Kairi can’t see her grimace, but it’s clear enough in her body language. “We can work around her,” Xion insists. “You go left, I’ll go right.” 

“Got it.” 

Kairi throws her Keyblade and hits the Heartless hard. She narrowly spins away from a retaliatory hit, and slides away from another one. She nearly runs right into Aqua when the older woman spins in front of her, and because of her sudden change in direction she trips over a rock and ends up face down on the ground. Her new armour stops her from hurting herself, but she’s still disorientated enough that it takes her a few seconds to get back up on her feet. 

“ _ Watch  _ it, Aqua!” she yells over to the other side of the battlefield where Aqua is chopping away at the Heartless. Xion is running around her, getting in hits where she can, but it’s not smooth enough for her to build up the combo that she needs to go into a command style. Kairi narrows her eyes. 

Xion does a neat backflip and gets off a thunder spell, before she’s knocked away from the fight. Kairi throws her a potion, and then watches Aqua’s footsteps, waiting for just the right moment. When Aqua gets out of a particularly vicious twirl, Kairi falls into place beside her and matches her movements to Aqua’s. 

“Aqua,” she says sharply. “Pay attention to Xion and I! We’re here too, and we’re fighting. If we work together, we can get this done quick and then help Terra and Ven.” 

Aqua shoots a burst of ice crystals at the Heartless, and for a moment Kairi is certain that she’s been completely ignored. Then Aqua casts flare and grabs Kairi to somersault clear of the resulting blast. 

“You’re here,” Aqua says calmly. Without her facial expressions to read, Kairi doesn’t know her well enough to tell what she’s actually thinking. She pauses, and Kairi hears her take a deep breath. “Let’s do this together. Be careful of it when its eyes are red, but go in hard right after it stops. Where’s Xion?” 

“I’m here!” 

“Split up and attack it from all sides at once,” Aqua orders. Kairi goes left, Xion goes right, and Aqua just leaps over the top of the tower. Kairi throws a few fireballs at it, Xion hits it with some thunder and ice, and Aqua does a complicated flip in mid air that has her Keyblade shining as it hits the top of the tower dead on. The tower wobbles, and Kairi follows up her fire spell with a strike raid, and then another, to try and tip it completely off balance. 

It’s easier, the second time, to let the fire spell build at the tips of her fingers and to spin in place, feeling lighter than air. The moment the magic washes over her she lets it lap at her skin and then take her all at once, and the command style comes as easy as breathing. The light engulfs her Keyblade to double her reach, and she uses it to her full advantage as she presses her attacks. Aqua becomes cloaked in her own magic a second later, and Xion is quick to follow her with her ghostly style. 

They push and push, and attack, and with the three of them if someone needs a break they get it. It’s only a matter of time before Kairi is yelling and expanding all her remaining magic with a last final hit, and Aqua is spinning on her toes as her magic whirls around her, and Xion is flickering so quickly through the air that Kairi has no chance of ever keeping up with her. The tower wavers and crumbles, and Kairi watches as the Heartless dissipate into nothingness. 

The only sound she can hear for a few seconds is her own hard breathing, and then Aqua dismisses her Keyblade. “It’s gone for now,” she says firmly. “Come on. Let’s go.” 

Kairi nods her agreement, and they go back to where Naminé is now hovering over Ven. Terra is sitting up and has both his hands covering his face, like he has a terrible headache. 

“Terra!” Aqua calls out. Terra drops his hands and squints towards her, but is still obviously blindsided by her flying tackle slash hug. He grunts, but his arms come up to hold her tightly, so Kairi can’t help but smile. 

“You alright?” Kairi asks Xion, who nods before kneeling at Naminé’s side. Naminé has her eyes closed, and her hand over Ven’s heart. Ven looks quiet like this, face still and pale in sleep. Kairi can’t make herself look at him for long. Ven’s spent far too much time in unnatural sleep. She hopes that Naminé can wake him up soon. 

“Aqua?” Terra says. “What…” 

“How are you feeling? Did anything happen before you were taken? What was it that put you here?” Aqua asks all in a rush. “Terra?” 

“I’m here, I’m here,” Terra says, in a practised way. It tells Kairi more about their relationship than she really needed to know. “Ven and I just touched down to investigate the anomaly. Why are you here?” 

“It’s been almost two weeks since you left the Land of Departure,” Aqua says tightly. “You weren’t supposed to be gone that long, so I came looking for you.” 

Terra’s mouth goes flat, in a tense and unhappy way. He finally looks around, making a small confused noise when he sees Kairi, Xion, and Naminé. Kairi lifts her hand in greeting. 

“Hi Terra,” she says. “It’s Kairi. Aqua got us all some sweet Keyblade armour.” 

“Right,” Terra says, still looking completely out of it. He and Aqua haven’t let go of each other at all. “Uh, I’ll get up to speed on it all later. If Ven and I got wiped out, there’s probably still danger around. We should leave and regroup.” 

“Yes,” Aqua says. “Good idea.” 

“Naminé?” Xion says quietly, hand hovering over Naminé’s shoulder but not quite touching. “Can you hear me?” 

A handful of seconds pass. Naminé doesn’t move, and her eyes remain closed. Just as Kairi is about to suggest that they simply cart the two of them away from here, Ven grunts a little and turns his head. Aqua lets out a sharp gasp, and Xion’s open palm tightens into a fist. None of them move.

Ven yawns, and then reaches up to rub at his eyes as he blinks them open. Naminé sags slightly, and Xion immediately is there for her to lean against. Kairi lets out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding. 

“Don’t tell me,” Ven says, looking around at all of them. “I’ve been asleep for another twelve years?” 

“Don’t joke about that,” Aqua says sharply. “It’s only been two weeks.”

“Oh, is that all,” Ven answers. He looks around, and is clearly unimpressed with what he finds. 

“You’re amazing, Naminé,” Xion says, and then takes her helmet off. Naminé must be reading her mind, because she does too and the two of them meet in the middle, kissing fiercely. Kairi clears her throat reflexively and looks away, as if she’s just surveying the area for any danger. Well, that answers the question if they’d gotten together or not. 

“Nice as this all is, I’m really tired of waking up like this,” Ven yawns. “Can we go home?” 

“Yes,” Aqua says, squeezing his hand. “Yes, we can.” 

* * *

Kairi kicks her legs so her heels thud against the wall that she’s sitting on. The Land of Departure still looks the same as every other day that’s been here, the sun shining and the sky a clear blue. This world is so strange. The others that she’s been too all have a balance of light and dark that she can feel out, even if it takes her a few days. She’s been here for longer than that, and she still doesn’t have a read on it. She doesn’t know if she ever will, or if that’s just the nature of this place. To be inscrutable and neutral and distant. 

Terra and Ven are inside, being fussed over by everyone. They look okay; besides, they don’t need another person hovering over them. With Naminé making sure they’re fine, Xion refusing to leave her side, and Aqua obviously wanting to stay with them, that leaves her to give everyone some space. 

Again. 

She squeezes the stone wall under her palms, trying not to think too hard about that. It’s not her fault that she is always left to herself. And it’s been really nice, living here. She’s had heaps of time to spend with Naminé, and she’s gotten to know Xion really well too. Aqua… well, they’re working on it. She’s Aqua’s student now, anyway, and from what Aqua says, that means she’s going to be sticking around for a while. That’s good! She just... misses her islands for some reason. 

“Kairi.” 

Kairi nearly falls off the wall and down the cliff. A hand on the back of her shirt keeps her upright just long enough to regain her balance. She turns with a sheepish smile to look at Aqua, who has one eyebrow raised. 

“Ha… you were being pretty quiet there!” 

“That was the third time I called your name,” Aqua says. She takes in Kairi’s position, and then nimbly leaps up to sit next to her on the wall. “Thinking about something?” 

“Something,” Kairi says, looking away from her. “Are Terra and Ven okay?” 

“They’re fine,” Aqua sighs. “Hungry, but fine. Thanks to you.” 

Kairi shrugs one shoulder. “You and Xion and Naminé helped, too. I couldn’t have done it alone.” Could Sora or Riku have? Probably. She sighs. 

Aqua hums softly. “You were the one to follow me after I raced carelessly ahead. You were there with your magic, keeping the dark at bay.” 

“And Naminé woke you and Ven and Terra up, and Xion was the one who figured out how to defeat the demon tower,” Kairi says, annoyed. “And this castle gave us armour to do it. So what?” 

Aqua meets her gaze calmly. “Like you said. We were all instrumental. I have trouble remembering that sometimes. As, I think, do you.” 

Kairi bristles, but looks away instead of rising to the bait. 

“We’re very alike,” Aqua muses. “I see myself in you. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” 

“What do you mean?” Kairi says. Aqua is strong and has been through so much without letting it break her. She has friends who stand by her side, and who want her around. They’re not particularly alike in Kairi’s opinion. 

Aqua sighs. “What I want to say is that I’m sorry I treated you brusquely earlier this week,” she says. “It wasn’t fair on either of us, especially since I didn’t even tell you why I was angry.” 

Kairi shoots her a look out of the corner of her eye. Aqua is staring forward now, over the cliff, though her eyes are looking further afield. 

“Are you going to tell me now?” Kairi asks grudgingly. 

“Where did you get your Keyblade?” Aqua asks her. When she turns to her, her eyebrows are drawn down intently. 

“Um,” Kairi says, not expecting this. “When I was in the World That Never Was… after I got kidnapped by the Organisation, Naminé busted me out of prison. We met up with Riku, and he told me that I needed to have a way to protect myself, so he gave me my Keyblade.” 

“And this was before he was given the title of Master?” 

“Yes, before that.” 

Aqua’s face is thoughtful. She summons her own Keyblade to her hand. “This used to be my Master’s blade,” she says. Kairi looks at it – it’s grey and black, and it feels old. “Though really, it’s connected to this world. Whoever is the Master of this place, owns this Keyblade, because it is needed to run many of the processes that occur here. He had his own Keyblade, when he was young, but I never saw it.” 

“What about yours?” Kairi asks. “Do you have another one?” Sora could wield two Keyblades, which she always thought was unique to him. Maybe not. 

Aqua’s mouth quirks. “You have it, Kairi. Your Keyblade used to be mine.” 

It’s like missing a step in the dark; if she hadn’t already been sitting, then she would have fallen over. As it is, she sways on the spot, fingers digging into the stone wall to try and keep her steady. Her nails bite into the rock, but the pain is vague, a fleeting impression at the back of her head. 

“What do you mean?” she asks tightly. “How can it be yours?”

“I left my armour and my Keyblade in the Realm of Light when I leapt into the Realm of Darkness,” Aqua says. “It’s impossible to call a Keyblade across Realms, so I was left with only my Master’s blade. I don’t know the specifics, but when I arrived here and tried to call it again… it had already found someone else.” She’s looking off into the distance pensively, like she’s trying to find an explanation herself. “I introduced you when you were young, so maybe it recognised you. After so long, no wonder it wanted another hand to wield it. And you are far from the worst choice it could have made.” 

Kairi can’t open her mouth. In a situation like this normally she would apologise, but she hasn’t done anything wrong. And if she apologised… then maybe Aqua would ask for it back. And Kairi can’t give up her Keyblade. It’s  _ hers _ now. It’s not fair of Aqua to ask that.

Aqua is looking at her like she can read her thoughts. “I wasn’t going to tell you at all,” she says. “But I still acted out. Hardly fitting of me, especially when I had just pledged to train you. I’m sorry, Kairi.” 

“It’s okay,” Kairi says awkwardly. “If someone had taken away my Keyblade, I’d be pretty mad too.” 

“I’m not going to ask for it back,” Aqua says. Even the mention of it makes Kairi’s heart beat faster. “Keyblades have a will of their own. If it has moved on, then I must respect that choice.” She smiles. “Besides, it’s traditional for a Master to give their student their Keyblade. While things around here have changed, we can still keep some things the same, can’t we?” 

Kairi’s throat is tight, but she manages to nod. “So you really do want me as a student?” she asks quietly, folding her hands over each other in her lap. 

“Of course,” Aqua says. “I was short sighted at first, but I’m glad to have you here. Xion, as well. Even though Xehanort is gone now, who knows what else may happen in the future. If I have a part in shaping the next generation, then I’m pleased to play it. And… it’s good to hear laughter in the castle again.” 

“Right,” Kairi says, tilting her head up. Aqua really wants her around, huh? 

“You’ve all come so far in such a short amount of time,” Aqua continues. “I’m proud of you, Kairi.” 

They sit there quietly for a few minutes as Kairi tries to think of something to say. “Thanks, Aqua,” she finally manages. “It means a lot to hear you say that.” 

Aqua nods. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you. Now that Ven’s back, and now that both you and Xion have your command styles down, we can work on something more complicated.” She hesitates for a moment. “I’ll be honest; just like Ven, you and Xion are no beginners. Yes, you’re self taught, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Once you build up your confidence, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.” 

Kairi lets the words wash over her. She doesn’t know if she believes them, just yet – but maybe someday she will. For now, that’s probably enough. 

A soft bell chime echoes through the air, and Aqua looks back towards the castle. “A message is coming through,” she says. “Come, let’s see who it is.” 

“Is this how you communicated before gummi phones were invented?” Kairi asks, smiling. 

“I still don’t have one of those things,” Aqua mutters. “And yes. There are ways to communicate across worlds without the use of your gummi phones. One such way is attached to the main hall of this castle; I’ll show you.” 

The other four residents of the world are already standing in the main hall. Terra lifts a hand as they enter, and Ven puts his hands behind his head and smiles sheepishly. Kairi twitches at how much he looks like Sora, and tries to ignore the pose as much as she can. Xion and Naminé have their heads bent together, like they so often do, but they look up when Aqua and Kairi arrive. 

“What are you doing out of bed,” Aqua scolds them, though Kairi can tell that her heart isn’t in it. 

“I wanted to see who was calling!” Ven says, grinning up at her. “Come on, answer it!” 

Aqua sighs, but she summons her Keyblade and does so. Master Yen Sid’s face pops up in front of them. He surveys the gathered crowd silently before focusing on Aqua. 

“Master Aqua,” he says. “I see you have gained several new students.” 

“I have,” Aqua says, nodding. “I’ve accepted them all as mine.” 

The words light a small warmth in Kairi’s chest, and she tries not to grin too widely. 

“A fortunate twist of events,” Master Yen Sid says. “Master Aqua, I have received a distress signal, from a… very  _ strange  _ location. I believe that it is Master Riku, and he is asking for reinforcements.” 

Kairi’s smile drops. “Is he okay?” she blurts. 

“There was little information encoded in the message,” Master Yen Sid says. “But there is a way forward, one that anyone may tread. As the acting Master of this Land, I pass the message to you.” 

Aqua’s expression dips into a frown as she considers his words. “I understand, but… there is too much to do here. It is my duty to protect this land, and those worlds that I can reach. Ven and Terra have discovered something strange that needs my attention, so as much as I want to help Riku, I don’t think I can leave right now.” 

“I’ll go!” Kairi almost yells. There’s no way she’s going to ignore a distress call from Riku. “If anyone can pass through and go to Riku, then let me!” 

“Perhaps not the wisest idea,” Master Yen Sid says. Before Kairi can yell at him, he strokes his beard and continues speaking. “But maybe it is the one that will bring us closest to success. Master Aqua, are you willing to set young Kairi out on this path?” 

“Not just Kairi,” Xion butts in. “If Riku needs help, then I want to help too. I owe him, for everything he’s done for us. And we’re stronger together. Right, Kairi?” 

“Right,” she affirms, grinning at her friend, warmth bubbling in her chest. 

“I’ll come too,” Naminé says quietly. “The world that Riku and Sora have found themselves in… I think my powers will be useful there.” 

“Three individuals, ready to set out,” Master Yen Sid murmurs. “A fortuitous number. Master Aqua, will you free them from their apprenticeship duties to pursue this distress signal?” 

“Of course,” Aqua says, smiling at the three of them. “I can think of no better three to send. All of you, come back safe, and bring Riku with you.” 

“And Sora,” Kairi says stubbornly. “We’ll bring them both back. I promise.” 

“And Sora,” Aqua says after a second has passed. “Remember what I said, Kairi. Naminé, Xion; trust in your bonds and rely on each other when you need to. There is no shame in doing so, and it is a sign of strength to know your own weaknesses.” She nods solemnly at all of them, and the three young apprentices nod back. 

“It would be best to speed your journey here,” Master Yen Sid says. “The magic that is sending the message is fickle. It may flicker out at any moment.” 

“Got it,” Kairi says. “We’ll be there right away.” 

She turns to Xion and Naminé, who are already wearing their game faces. “We can find them,” Naminé says. “I won’t let Sora down again.” 

“Definitely,” Xion agrees. “You ready, Kairi?” 

Kairi takes a breath. This is her chance to prove herself. Aqua is trusting them, and if Riku and Sora need her help, then she’s going to do everything that she can to aid them. There’s so much that she hasn’t seen, so much that she doesn’t know. If she doesn’t take the opportunity to explore when it comes along, then she will have no one but herself to blame for missing out. 

“Yeah,” she says. “Let’s do this.” 

**Author's Note:**

> [Naminé and Xion’s armour](https://oathkeeperoxas.tumblr.com/post/625848512538689536/lesbean-rightsjpg)   
>  [Kairi’s Land of Departure look](https://oathkeeperoxas.tumblr.com/post/626852598182526976)   
>  [Kairi's training outfit](https://oathkeeperoxas.tumblr.com/post/616509453105299456/born-of-the-waves)


End file.
